Super Bowl falls just short of ratings record

Posted by Josh Alper on February 6, 2012, 11:43 AM EDT

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The ratings for Super Bowl 46 were very strong, but not quite strong enough to set a new record.

The Giants’ 21-17 win over the Patriots came in with a 47.8 overnight rating and 71 share of the viewing audience, according to the Associated Press. That’s just off the record 47.9 overnight rating for the Packers’ victory over the Steelers last year, a mark that game shares with Super Bowl 21 when the Giants beat the Broncos.

Sunday night’s broadcast peaked in the fourth quarter when Nielsen reported a 51.8 rating as the Giants fought their way back to a victory. The game set a new Nielsen NFL record for Boston where the game received a 56.7 rating while the game trailed only that previous Giants Super Bowl among viewers in New York.

Hopefully none of our receivers will shoot themselves in the leg and we can make it back next year

raiders757 says:Feb 6, 2012 12:11 PM

Doesn’t mean a thing. Still huge ratings no matter which way you slice it. You can bet every regular NFL fan watched the game. The swing in numbers comes from those who watch if for the commercials and not the game.

Would have loved to have played SF on a neutral turf with better officials (like yesterday, even though I still feel as though the Patriots got calls), because the officials definitely did their best to keep GB, SF and NE in these games. The Giants should have won that game going away last night.

And as much as 49er fans like to blame Kyle Williams, the officials kept two drives for SF going with bogus calls, which resulted in 10 points. The only true score they had was the Davis TD on blown coverage by Rolle.

We all saw what happened in the GB game.

NE only gets called for holding once all game — and it wasn’t even the most blatant offence (Waters undressing Pierre-Paul), as JPP and Joseph were getting stripped like they were preparing to board a plane last night by NE linemen.

Let’s not even talk about the facemasks that weren’t called and the PI on a couple of different drives that ended up stalling.

What I hate is these pantywaists who complain that the game was “boring” because it wasn’t a 48-45 FINAL. That was a GREAT game.

bearsrulepackdrool says:Feb 6, 2012 12:14 PM

That’s cuz it was a rerun of 4 years ago.

gcsuk says:Feb 6, 2012 12:24 PM

chicagosundevil says: Feb 6, 2012 11:55 AM

Anyone else think that they Raymond Berry Super Bowl “Trophy Walk” was one of the weirdest moments this year in sports?
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I actually thought it was incredibly sad. To really see how ravaged the guy’s body is after all the years of football, that walk looked really painful for him.

That’s because the game really wasn’t that exciting. Of course the northeast media is going to hype this game as one of the best ever played, but the fact of the matter is that the rest of America has clearly decided what they thought of it.

It’s ashame too because I thought NBC did a really good job presenting the game, and it sounds like Indianapolis was a heck of a host as well.

I’m not a fan of either team, but one player just gained tons of respect in my book last night for one “near miss” play. Gronkowski, with a screwed up ankle, and limited, still sold out on that hail mary to try to win the game. I’ve got a feeling that would have gone a little different with him at 100%. About 6″ to a foot from winning the game, and being the unquestioned MVP.

mattlion says:Feb 6, 2012 1:13 PM

“Would have loved to have played SF on a neutral turf with better officials (like yesterday, even though I still feel as though the Patriots got calls), because the officials definitely did their best to keep GB, SF and NE in these games. The Giants should have won that game going away last night. ”

When was the last time you saw an intentional grounding call on a pass thrown in the field of play 35 yards downfield? That call amounted to 9 gift points for the Giants. It may have been the right call, but you never actually see it called. The rest of the game, the refs pretty much let everyone play.

If anyone should’ve “won the game going away” last night, it was the Pats. 2 balls on the ground the Giants recovered, amongst other potential breaks.

Give the Giants credit but let’s not suggest that either team should’ve blown the other out last night. That game was on the verge of getting out of hand in the first quarter for the Giants and in the third quarter for the Pats, but neither team could keep the momentum.

Topher says:Feb 6, 2012 1:23 PM

I watched it on my iPad. I wonder how many others did and if that affected television viewership.

waxdaclam says:Feb 6, 2012 1:31 PM

Al Michaels is the best NFL commentator around. He should do every superbowl. Unbiased, spot-on color commentary that should be the base of standards for all other color commentators who broadcast for the NFL. Throw Collinsworth in the scrap heap with Buck & Aikman. We need more professionals like Al Michaels!

He helped make the broadcast a resounding success…

This has nothing to do with ratings, but I feel like someone needed to give the guys his kudos.

aeacos says:Feb 6, 2012 1:44 PM

How is that possible, everyone was saying this was going to be the biggest ratings bonanza ever, what with NY and NE markets. I would have prefered a Baltimore vs San Fran game myself but whatever.

jetsjedimindtricks says:Feb 6, 2012 1:47 PM

Patriots Super Bowl record before being caught cheating 3-0. Patriots Super Bowl record when they arent allowed to cheat 0-2. Figure it out.

andypro18 says:Feb 6, 2012 1:58 PM

Mattlion said:

“When was the last time you saw an intentional grounding call on a pass thrown in the field of play 35 yards downfield? That call amounted to 9 gift points for the Giants. It may have been the right call, but you never actually see it called.”

Bengals fan here, but moreso a football fan. Everyone I’ve spoken to about the game last night feels the same as I do. Very boring in all aspects except the last 3 min. Boring, bland commercials, extremely lame halftime show (would have been good back in ’94 or so) and boring, plodding game. No plays greater than 25 yds until the last drive. Just very vanilla game. I thought Steelers/Cardinals was a great one with lots of big plays and back and forth suspense. Again, here in the midwest we thought the whole show was kind of ho-hum.

Let’s be honest folks here….it really did not live up to the hype. No big plays and lots of mistakes. Not what you would expect from two veteran Super Bowl teams. A Green Bay/New Orleans vs. anyone other then the Patriots would have been a much better game.

The rest of the game, the refs pretty much let everyone play.
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The non-call on the blatant PI was a perfect example of one of those BS calls that the Patriots magically seem to get every game. Could have completely changed the game and was downright awful.

Give it a rest, their good fortune in recovering fumbles down the stretch more than evens things out. Going back to the 1st Dallas game they recovered 75% of opponents fumbles (a couple of those unforced), and lost none of their own 7 fumbles.

I’m in AZ for the winter. Last year on Super Bowl Sunday, every where I went there were people wearing Packer or Steelers gear. This year I went to 3 different store Sunday morning and did not see one Giant or NE fan wearing thier colors. I guess if you are not from NY or NE the game didn’t matter. It’s a good thing the NFL has those small flyover markets.